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I am extremely angry. And it’s not because Johann Sebastian Bach just died, either. The reason is that Vermont has given up all of its bargaining power, wasted the work of several years, and has doomed itself forever.

Since Cornwallis surrendered the majority of all the British soldiers in America the British went on the defensive and pulled their threatening force away from Vermont. At the same time, Congress offered Vermont statehood. There was one important condition, however. We would have to give up all the New Hampshire and New York territories who had become a part of Vermont, which wouldn’t be fair to us or to the citizens of those territories. Therefore, we rejected the offer.

The New York governor responded by sending troops (again) into Vermont. We met them at the Walloomsac River, where both sides sat and waited for something to happen. It happened all right. The New Yorkers decided that we were too many and went home. That didn’t make the governor of New York very happy.

But New York wasn’t the only angry state. New Hampshire was furious at all of their towns that had become part of Vermont, as they were now almost as small as Rhode Island. And with New York planning to accuse us of treason on the floor of the United States Congress, our hopes were slowly fading. Then, the final blow was struck. Somehow, some of our Vermont friends had persuaded the New Hampshire and New York towns to go back to their respective states. This caused all of Vermont’s bargaining power to be lost. I predict that in the coming years, Vermont will be forced to merge again with New York State.